Propensities for Fit People: Listen to Your Body

You want to be a fit person, right? That's why I'm sharing my own habits for keeping fit and staying healthy in the ongoing Habits of Fit People series.

Here's one that works for me: Listening to my body. It may seem counterintuitive to the "no pain, no gain" philosophy so that so many subscribe to, but listening to how you feel really makes a difference in your workouts. How?

Your body is one smart cookie. If you're really listening, it'll tell you important things like when you're tired, hungry, stressed or sick, and hopefully, you'll trust your body and honor its signals most of the time. But it can also give you signs when you're sore, injured, or exhausted—all of which could be clues that you need to cut back on your current workout routine. The opposite is also true; I find that I can tell when I have energy to burn, which often happens if I'm slacking in the gym or having a really stressful workday. On those days, I want and NEED a good, tough workout to combat stress and use up my pent up energy.

Here are some of the ways I listen to my body when it comes to fitness. Most of these are a combination of listening and knowing how to remedy the situation that arises.

Take time for recovery if you're injured. I can't tell you how many times someone asks me what they can do to exercise despite being told by their doctor or physical therapist that they need to rest. Rest is important for recovery—a fact that some of us have learned the hard way. Before I became a Pilates fanatic, I had some lower back issues. I'd throw out my back and be unable to walk or stand upright for days at a time. My health care provider watched over me and gave me specific guidelines for exercise: I could only walk on a treadmill for cardio, going no faster than 4.0 mph; and I had to reduce the amount of weight I lifted at the gym if I noticed that it compromised my form or alignment even the slightest bit. This went on for months and although it was really frustrating to not work as hard as I knew I was capable, I knew that too much impact or too much strain would make my injury worse—and my recovery period even longer.

Set aside a few minutes for rest. At whatever point somebody asks me what is most imperative, rising ahead of schedule to exercise or resting, you might be astounded to hear that my answer is continually dozing. This is just the case, be that as it may, in the event that you feel depleted OR you are not getting sufficient rest (think 7-9 hours for each night) on a standard premise. The periodic night with poor rest won't execute you (despite the fact that your exercise may endure), however doing without rest for the whole deal keeping in mind the end goal to exercise will cause issues. I wake up right on time to work out a couple of times each week and I'm entirely great at staying with that. Be that as it may, sometimes, I'm simply too darn tired to influence myself to get up. On those infrequent days, I tune in to my body and respect my want to rest, which implies my exercises are in reality better in the next days. So also, the primary sign that I'm catching a sickness is typically outrageous tiredness. On those days, I take a debilitated day from work and hit the sack, resting as far as might be feasible and avoiding the exercise center. For the most part, following a decent day of rest that way, I can keep that disease from outdoing me—yet when I disregard that fatigue I know so well (selecting to remain away and practice not surprisingly), it generally returns to haunt me!

In the event that it harms, stop. This is vital exercise guidance for anybody. In the event that you feel sharp agony or inconvenience amid an exercise, don't push through the torment. Doing as such can bring about genuine damage that will sideline you for quite a while-discuss disappointing! Tune in to your body: It's instructing you to back off or stop.

On the off chance that you feel tired, do less. I cherish taking a shot at new exercise streaks, where I practice however many days in succession as could be expected under the circumstances. In any case, I unquestionably don't do maximal, high-force exercises on each and every one of those days. Truth be told, I as a rule let my vitality levels and body mindfulness direct how hard I function. While I want to run quick and for long separations, some days I take off, intending to do 6 hard miles, just for my legs to feel like lead and my heart rate to race at a moderate clasp. I take that as a sign that I have to go simpler that day, regardless of whether it implies not satisfying that specific objective. I'll back off, disregard my pace, and run a shorter separation, generally even toss in a couple of recuperation interims of strolling. This is one of the ways that you can remain dynamic and make wellness a propensity, yet without trying too hard.

You may state, "My body never needs to work out! I'm worn out! Sore! Old! In the event that I tune in to my body, I'll never work out!" You may feel that way now, particularly in case you're new to practice or simply getting back onto the activity wagon. Undoubtedly, we feel along these lines since we've overlooked our bodies for so long that we've lost the want to work out. As children we called it playing, and it was entertaining. Be that as it may, as grown-ups, it's a "work"out. Be that as it may, on the off chance that you really tune in to your body, it wants to move and be solid and fit. When you start, it'll reveal to you that all the more frequently—yet in addition give you prompts when it needs a little downtime from the exercise center.

Put essentially, tuning in to your body will enable you to stay with an exercise schedule, counteract damage-and make it more agreeable, all of which will enable you to make practice a deep rooted propensity.

By: Nicole Nichols, source:sparkpeople.com

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